Green leader sees an opening in Guelph,
Mike Schreiner could be crowned Ontario’s first Green MPP. Here’s why
GUELPH, ONT.— Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner wants it bad.
With veteran Liberal MPP a and cabinet minister Liz Sandals now retired from politics in the Royal City and no incumbent to battle, Schreiner figures the June 7 election offers his best chance yet to become the first Green elected in Ontario.
There are reasons, this being his second bid for the riding at a time when the Liberal vote appears to be collapsing.
Schreiner had a decent run in the 2014 vote, placing third with 19.3 per cent of the vote behind Sandals at 41.5 per cent, the Progressive Conservatives at 20.8 per cent and slightly ahead of the New Democrats at 17.7 per cent.
Thus encouraged, Schreiner bought a house in Guelph a year ago, no longer content with be- ing a renter in his courtship of the community where his ties go deeper. He started an organic food business in Guelph 23 years ago after going to an or- ganic food conference because “I just fell in love with Guelph.” He’s a member of the Rotary Club.
For a transplanted farm boy from Kansas who also owns a home in Toronto’s west end for family reasons — his wife is a vice- provost at U of T — it’s a way of saying he’s got roots in this town noteworthy, among other things, for its Victorian and historic stone buildings downtown and the picturesque Speed River.
“I think there’s a huge opportunity for a Green breakthrough in Guelph,” the married father of two teenagers says in an interview.
“This is clearly a ‘change’ election. The question I’m asking is: what kind of change do you want?” he adds, promising to push harder than other parties for an environmentally sustainable small- green economy. “One Green MPP can provide that leadership, especially if it’s aminority government.”
Even a devout NDP supporter like Tina Sorbara acknowledges Schreiner is getting a lot of attention locally as her leader, Andrea Horwath, makes a cam- paign appearance at a local craft brewery, Brothers Brewing, pouring cold pints on the hottest day of the year.
“There’s people who have been working a number of years trying to build the profile of the Green Party here in Guelph. I know they invest a lot of resources here in Guelph. I have friends who are in interested in the Green Party.”
But, as always in politics, there are obstacles.
Schreiner has to beat the city’s reputation as a swing riding.
“Guelph has tended to go with the party that ends up in power,” notes University of Guelph political science professor Tim Mau. “We’ve pretty much gone whichever way the winds were blowing. This time, it’s a little more challenging to determine where those winds are taking us.”
Mau, who hosted an all-candidates meeting early in the campaign, credited Schreiner with being better briefed than his challengers.
“He’s well versed in the issues … some of the other mainstream candidates weren’t quite as knowledgeable. “Mike performed very strong,” adds Mau.
“He’s been involved in the community and he’s doing all the right things. It’s just a ques- tion, the Green Party is really struggling to make the inroads they’ve made in other countries.”
Schreiner’s rivals, however, have been running hard, with the Liberals trying to hold the seat and the New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives hoping to ride on the coattails of the poll-leading central campaigns of Horwath and Doug Ford.
Liberal candidate Sly Castaldi, executive director of the Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis Centre and a former cochair Cochair of Liberal Premier Kath- leen Wynne’s roundtable on violence against women, is not shy about pointing out Schreiner is from away. “I am from Guelph, I was raised in Guelph and was educated in Guelph and I’m committed to this community,” says Castaldi, a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2012 who was named Guelph’s wom- an of distinction in public ser- vice for 2010.
“This for me is about being Guelph proud and home grown. I think Mike’s been running for a while here.”
Schreiner says his Greens are used to facing an uphill battle, but notes Ontario lags behind other provinces in electing Greens, including federal Green leader Elizabeth May, who has spent time with him on t the hustings.
“We have to work 10 times harder than the candidates from the three status quo parties,” Schreiner says. “There are elected Greens across Canada now, in PEI, New Brunswick and British Columbia. And it’s proven to people that Greens can get elected.”